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1
...that the pioneer
American airman
Lowell Smith participated in the first mid-
air refueling , the
first aerial circumnavigation and held 16 records for military aircraft in speed, endurance and distance?
...that the
Playhouse Square Center , in
downtown
Cleveland, Ohio , is the second largest
theater complex in the United States?
...that
Hermann Klaatsch was one of the first scientists to advocate a clear division between
religion and
physical anthropology ?
...that the world's first all-electronic
television receiver was demonstrated on
Christmas Day
1927 by the
Japanese researcher
Kenjiro Takayanagi ?
...that
Clement ,
Bishop of Dunblane , (
pictured ) was the first
Dominican
friar to obtain a
bishopric in the
British Isles ?
...that
Ernst Kitzinger , a historian of
Byzantine art , was forced to leave
Germany in
1934 and
England in
1940 because he was
Jewish and
German respectively?
...that the capture and forced march of
Daniel M. Frost's
militia through
St. Louis, Missouri during the
US Civil War ignited a
citywide riot ?
...that
Bangsa Malaysia , a policy seeking to create a unified
national identity for all
citizens of
Malaysia , has been criticised as being 'nebulous' and overstepping the
Constitution ?
...that
West Ham Stadium in
London holds the record for the lowest ever attendance of a
football match in
The Football League , despite its
capacity of 120,000?
...that
fear of being buried alive was so widespread in 19th century that
safety coffins were invented to give the
prematurely buried a chance for escape
...that
David O. Cooke (
pictured ) , a civilian administrator in the
U.S. Department of Defense for over 45 years, was colloquially known as the "Mayor of
the Pentagon " because of his managerial duties?
...that in 1994,
Horace Dove-Edwin became the first medalist in
athletics for
Sierra Leone , but lost it due to a positive
doping test ?
...that, in the 1950s,
Romanian linguist
Iorgu Iordan was in charge of expelling opponents of the
Communist regime from the
University of Bucharest ?
...that the
2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm was the most significant snow event for southern Texas since
1895 with a maximum of 1.5 inches of accumulated snow?
...that
Ralph Fasanella was pumping gas for money in
1972 when featured on the cover of
New York Magazine as "...the best
primitive painter since
Grandma Moses "?
...that the
Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City was host to the world-famous opera singer
Enrico Caruso who sang "
The Star-Spangled Banner " from the window of his room on
Armistice Day ?
...that a
methanol reformer can replace a
hydrogen -gas tank in a
fuel cell vehicle by catalytically producing fuel from the poisonous liquid?
...that after being stripped of his
aristocratic title after
World War II ,
Prince Takeda Tsuneyoshi of
Japan retired to raise
racehorses on his estate?
...that the
Eskaya tribe are the object of
international
archeological studies considering their distinct culture, language and alphabet not found elsewhere in the world?
...that Russian Jewish painter
Marc Chagall created the windows of the
St Stephan church (
pictured ) in
Mainz as a sign of Jewish-German reconciliation?
...that the
Poniatowski Bridge in
Warsaw was destroyed in both
World Wars ?
...that
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service was created in 1971 due to controversy surrounding the flooding of
Lake Pedder in 1970?
...that American actor
David Holt was reduced to starring in the drugs-scare melodrama
"She Shoulda Said 'No'!" at age twenty-two, after being touted at the age 7 as the male
Shirley Temple ?
...that the first
gay mass-market paperback focused on
situational homosexuality and
male rape in
prison ?
...that
Juan N. Méndez (
pictured ) took up the post of interim
President of Mexico for three months to allow then-President
Porfirio Díaz to personally lead his forces against a
partisan uprising?
...that, although
Kievan Rus was heavily defeated in the
Rus'-Byzantine War (1043) , hostilities ended with the marriage of
Vsevolod I of Kiev to
Constantine IX 's daughter?
...that in
1937 a
Soviet station became the first scientific research settlement to operate on the
drift ice of the
Arctic Ocean ?
... that the
Air Zoo in
Kalamazoo, Michigan houses the only
SR-71B Blackbird in existence?
...that
Bantcho Bantchevsky committed
suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the
Metropolitan Opera ?
...that
Nicholas Mukomberanwa was a
police officer in
Harare ,
Zimbabwe , before turning to
sculpture full-time?
...that the oldest
modern human remains in Europe have been discovered in
Peştera cu Oase in south-western
Romania ?
...that
Native Hawaiians used
Mamane (
pictured )
wood for
thatching poles ,
spades ,
spears ,
sled runners ,
firewood , symbols of authority and to ward off evil?
...that many countries afford
journalists the right to
protect their sources ?
... that
Harrison Thyng was one of only six
US Air Force pilots to be recognized as an
ace in two wars?
...that the
Police Act 1964 gave the
British
Home Secretary the power to enact compulsory amalgamation of
police forces in
England and Wales ?
...that controversy has arisen over the interpretation of
Robert Baden-Powell 's opinions on
religion in Scouting ?
... that
Mary Jones walked 25 miles across the
Welsh countryside to buy a copy of the
Bible , unintentionally inspiring the creation of the
British and Foreign Bible Society ?
...that the
Thing of all Swedes and the
Disting market were held to coincide with
Dísablót , a pre-Christian
Swedish
sacrificial holiday ?
...that during the
Rus'-Byzantine War in
907
Oleg of Novgorod reportedly circumvented the chaining of the
Bosporus by putting his ships on wheels and sailing them overland (
pictured ) to
Constantinople ?
...that the town of
Scone was the
coronation site of
Kings of Scotland for several centuries?
...that in
Homer 's
Iliad , the
charioteer
Meriones is described as being a "peer of murderous
Mars "?
...that in the
Sso rite of the
Beti of
Cameroon , one initiate was designated the ritual butt of the other candidates' jokes?
... that at
Masa , an elite
New York City restaurant, no
menus are available, because the
chef , Masa Takayama, cooks whatever he wants?
... that the
earthquake-proof designs of the
Nagoya TV ,
Tsutenkaku , the
Sapporo TV , the
Beppu , and the
Tokyo Towers were all engineered by
Tachu Naito ?
...that former
Congolese general
Laurent Nkunda was a
psychology student before helping
Laurent-Désiré Kabila to overthrow
Mobutu Sese Seko ?
...that the
Southern Islands of
Singapore (
pictured ) are being developed into a getaway for the ultra-wealthy, similar to
Dubai 's
Palm Islands ?
...that
South African
cricketer
Geoff Griffin took a
hat-trick in his second
Test match , at
Lord's in 1960, but was
no-balled repeatedly for
throwing in the same match and in the exhibition match that followed it, and never played Test cricket again?
...that after the
non-profit
Internet service provider
Public Netbase began supporting websites that opposed
his political party ,
Austrian politician
Jörg Haider accused the organisation of sponsoring
child pornography ?
...that
Ming Dynasty general
Gang Bing
castrated himself and placed his severed organs under Emperor
Yongle 's saddle to avoid being accused of sexual improprieties?
...that in the
Frederica Naval Action of the
American Revolutionary War , three
galleys led by
Georgian colonel
Samuel Elbert (
pictured ) defeated a much stronger
British force?